Victorian health officials have accessed a coronavirus patient’s COVIDSafe app data for the first time.
The Federal Government smartphone application records when users have been in proximity to other smartphones with the app to help authorities track down people who may have been exposed to the virus.
A Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesperson said a coronavirus-positive patient who had the COVIDSafe app registered on their phone was identified on Monday.
It is the first time Victorian health officials have been able to make use of the app.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a press conference on Wednesday morning that NSW had previously “sought data where it has had cases”.
Mr Hunt said all states and territories were able to use the COVIDSafe app, which had been downloaded 5.9 million times.
Victorian Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said the app user who tested positive to coronavirus agreed to release the data from the app.
“We downloaded the data from the app and that revealed one close contact who hadn’t been identified in the initial interviewing process, so that’s good news, and that person has been contacted and placed into quarantine,” Dr van Diemen said.
“It is really important that we utilise all potential sources of information to augment our current contact tracing processes and this really does have the potential to be very useful on that front.”
The DHHS spokesperson said access to data obtained from the app was strictly limited to trained public health officers carrying out contact tracing functions.
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-20/covidsafe-app-victoria-health-authorities-first-use-coronavirus/12265286
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
You can watch more ABC News content on iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://ab.co/1svxLVE
Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
You can also like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Or follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Or even on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews